The Oscars are over! Sure, they’re still 178 days away, but they may already be done. Tell the host (Whoopi? Whoopi) to wave goodnight and roll the credits. Because Birdman, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s new film about showbiz and one actor’s struggle to redeem himself, has premiered at the Venice Film Festival and people are freaking out. Well, by “people” I mean a few critics, but still! They’re pretty big critics.

Right now, Birdman has a full 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on reviews from six critics currently giddily riding gondolas around Venice. Pretty much all of them say the same thing: Birdman is a technical marvel that also features strong writing and captivating performances from lead Michael Keaton (who, in playing a former superhero-movie star trying to get his career back, is sorta playing himself), Emma Stone, and __ Edward Norton__. Let’s look at some choice quotes.

[O]ne of the most sustained examples of visually fluid tour de force
cinema anyone's ever seen, all in the service of a story that examines
the changing nature of celebrity and the popular regard for fame over
creative achievement.

That “anyone’s ever seen” is probably a bit of hyperbole, but when critics are moved to that kind of big talk just after seeing a film, it usually means the movie is going to be major. Think: all that freaking out at Toronto last year as critics streamed out of 12 Years a Slave.

Birdman offers by far the most fascinating meta-deconstruction of an actor’s ego since Being John Malkovich, and one that leaves no room
for vanity. From the moment Keaton first removes his wig to the sight
of him wrapped in Batman-like facial bandages, his performance reveals
itself in layers.

So is Michael Keaton going to win an Oscar? Michael Keaton might win an Oscar.

Life is disappointing, his film is saying (it opens with a Carver
quote, ‘Did you get what you wanted out of life?'). But it's also
beautiful and, at times, unexpected. This film does real justice to
that idea: it's dazzling and rambling, intimate and sprawling, and
it's carried along by an infectious, off-the-cuff jazz score. As soon
as it ends, you'll be dying to fly with it again.

This sounds like a pretty special movie! More critics (including this one) will be weighing in when Birdman screens at the New York Film Festival in October, but for now, this is definitely the early movie to beat.

Though, of course, an Oscar campaign is a tricky thing to time and maintain. It’s only August. It’s entirely possible that the we’ll have forgotten all about the Birdman buzz by the time the nominations come out in January. Though, last year’s big Venice break out, Gravity, directed by Iñárritu’s countryman Alfonso Cuarón, later went on to win a bunch of Oscars, including one for its director. Can Birdman repeat that feat? And, more interestingly, can it revive Keaton’s career in a way not seen since the second coming of Travolta? Time will tell. What we do know for sure is that, as of today, the Oscar race has officially begun—if it’s not over already.